Chicago Bulls: Offseason report July 4th

It seems as if some big decisions for the Chicago Bulls have been made and the front office has reportedly informed Carlos Boozer that he will definitely be amnestied or traded. According to Joe Crowley of the Chicago Sun Times, no teams are currently interested in any type of sign-and-trade for Boozer and if no teams continue to show any type of interest, the Bulls will ultimately amnesty him.

Carlos Boozer

Now that he’s almost officially gone, I feel slightly bad for him. Granted it was Boozer’s poor play that ultimately caused him to lose his job with the Bulls but I just wish he wouldn’t have been such a disappointment. I get the feeling Boozer was pretty well liked in the locker room, but his departure is a necessary move for the Bulls both on and off the basketball court.

Boozer will still receive his $16 million next season from the Bulls but it won’t count against their salary cap. The Boozer move will free up a lot of cap space but now the problem I’m seeing is this new Anthony Randolph contract that the Bulls just picked up via the Doug McDermott trade. I really don’t see how Randolph will fit into the Bulls plans unless they have to trade away Gibson as part of a deal for LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony. I have a feeling that Randolph will eventually be moved to another team in a deal to help the Bull’s attain more cap space.

Carmelo Anthony’s free agent tour started this week and his first stop was in Chicago to hear a pitch from the Bulls. According to a Yahoo Sports interview, Derrick Rose said that recruiting Anthony to the Bulls was not his job…interesting.

My immediate reaction: then what is your job Derrick? Because I’m pretty sure his job is to play basketball and he’s barely done that in the last two years. The least he could do is encourage important players to sign with the Bulls. He doesn’t even have to give them a sales pitch. All he would have to do in my opinion is reassure them that he is feeling very healthy and that next year, his only focus is to win a championship. But that’s not his personality and I am just going to have to accept that.

Then on Tuesday, a report came out from ESPN that said Derrick Rose did end up helping with the recruitment of Carmelo Anthony. Well ok… that’s great. I don’t know why he didn’t just tell Yahoo Sports he was going to help in the first place.

I don’t understand Derrick Rose. I still respect him and want to see him succeed but sometimes he frustrates me to no end. He makes strange comments to the media at really bad times. And at this time, the Bulls don’t need any more anti-Derrick Rose material being provided to other NBA teams that will use it in a pitch for Anthony to join their team and not the Bulls.

Today, ESPN released another conflicting report that says Rose didn’t help in the recruiting process…I have no idea what to believe.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned a few small forwards that the Bulls should look to acquire in the free agent market this summer. One player I mentioned was Rudy Gay. Gay has decided to opt in for the 2014-2015 season and remain with the Sacramento Kings, so the Bulls won’t be getting him.

I also mentioned Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz. I considerably underestimated his value when I suggested him for the Bulls. He will be getting big money next year and reports from Yahoo Sports indicate that the Cavaliers are willing to offer Hayward a max deal around $63 million. Boy was I off on my estimate. Hayward is way out of the Bull’s price range. If they are going to spend that much money on a small forward it’s going to be Carmelo or LeBron.

Anthony remains the Bulls top target. If Anthony chooses not to sign with the Bulls, the remaining free agent options are going to be very limited. At this point, the Bulls are pretty much waiting on Anthony. Once he makes his decision, the Bulls will move forward from there. Hopefully the Bulls’ pitch to Anthony was effective, because if he decides to sign elsewhere, the Bulls are going to be in a mad dash to acquire any high quality free agents that are still left available.

I’m getting nervous. As much as I think Carmelo is interested in Chicago, I think he will ultimately re-sign with the Knicks. Why wouldn’t he want to continue to be the man in New York and play for Phil Jackson? Also the Knicks can offer him a massive amount of money, and that never hurts a sales pitch.

Despite Carmelo’s ultimate decision, the Bulls are making an effort to make some major team upgrades. No matter what happens, I feel that the Bulls are doing everything they can to assemble a championship caliber squad for next season.

About Anthony Catania

Greetings! My name is Anthony and I have a Bachelor's Degree in broadcast journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. I love sports of all kinds but my favorite leagues are the NBA and the NFL. I grew up in the 90s watching sports, so I have an intense love for the Chicago Bulls and the San Francisco 49ers. I spend my time living, working, and writing on the west coast of Michigan in Saint Joseph. I am an NBA, NFL, Chicago Bulls, and University of Michigan Football correspondent at isportsweb.com.
Check me out on Twitter! @anthonymcatania

Sean Ferguson

I agree with the writer of this article Carmelo is goin 2 re-sign with the Knicks and the Bulls are buildin a Championship team for this upcoming season we jus have 2 pick the right free agent small or power forward that will fit perfect with the team and run with it on ur quest 4 a Championship back in the Windy City of Chicago…………Goooo Bulls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!